SNMP was designed to help manage devices and hosts in complex multi-vendor networks. Compared to previous monitoring and management methods, SNMP reduces the amount of processing overhead on the network element. Reduced overhead and a common platform enables growth and platform independence. This allows SNMP to be used on almost every IP network, often using a single, centralized NMS.

The use of SNMP agents, probes, and NMSs has drastically reduced the need for manual monitoring of individual network components, which has led to increased uptime and availability. SNMP provides many tools for collecting and analyzing data to enable system tuning for optimum performance. This also helps identify when and where future growth in the network is required.